不确定需求与产出供应链回购契约决策

针对市场需求的不确定性和供应商产出产品合格率的不确定性,提出供应商产出量小于销售商订购量时需再生产满足销售商的订购,以及供应商生产过量和回购的产品通过折扣市场出售,建立以供应链期望利润为目标函数,以回购单价为决策变量的供应链回购契约决策模型.通过模型的分析,证明了模型存在最优的期望利润,给出了最优回购单价满足的方程;同时,也证明了最优订购量,最优生产量和销售商最优期望利润是回购单价的增函数.最后,通过算例验证了模型的有效性.     

The impact of sharing customer returns information in a supply chain with and without a buyback policy

In this paper, we examine a single period problem in a supply chain in which a Stackelberg manufacturer supplies a product to a retailer who faces customer returns and demand uncertainty. We show that the manufacturer incurs a significant profit loss with and without a buyback policy if it fails to account for customer returns in the wholesale price decision. Under the assumption that the retailer is better informed than the manufacturer on customer returns information, we show that without a buyback policy, the retailer prefers not to share if the manufacturer overestimates while it prefers to share customer returns information if the manufacturer underestimates this information. If the manufacturer offers a buyback policy, we have the opposite results. We also discuss incentives to share the customer returns information and some of the issues that are raised in sharing this information.     

随机需求下有产能约束的技术创新策略研究

在随机需求和技术变革的环境下,基于有产能约束的单供应商-单零售商的供应链结构,研究供应商分销价格决策和技术创新策略以及零售商订货决策。建立了三阶段Stackelberg博弈模型,通过逆推方法求得了供应商最优分销价格和技术创新策略以及零售商最优订货量,深入探讨了供应商产能、新技术出现概率以及市场需求期望与波动分别对供应商、零售商和供应链整体利润的影响。结果表明当供应商产能不足时进行技术创新会提高供应商和供应链的利润,但零售商因间接承担供应商技术创新的投资成本而利润下降;当供应商产能过剩时进行技术创新则会降低供应商及供应链的利润,而零售商的利润增加。新技术出现概率增加会提高供应链各成员的利润;提高市场需求期望并减小市场波动对供应商及供应链有利,但可能会降低零售商的利润。     

Contracting with asymmetric demand information in supply chains

We solve a buyback contract design problem for a supplier who is working with a retailer who possesses private information about the demand distribution. We model the retailer’s private information as a space of either discrete or continuous demand states so that only the retailer knows its demand state and the demand for the product is stochastically increasing in the state. We focus on contracts that are viable in practice, where the buyback price being strictly less than the wholesale price, which is itself strictly less than the retail price. We derive the optimal (for the supplier) buyback contract that allows for arbitrary allocation of profits to the retailer (subject to the retailer’s reservation profit requirements) and show that in the limit this contract leads to the first-best solution with the supplier keeping the entire channel’s profit (after the retailer’s reservation profit).     

Coordinating a decentralized supply chain with customer returns and price-dependent stochastic demand using a buyback policy

We investigate a decentralized supply chain that consists of a manufacturer and a retailer where the retailer simultaneously determines the retail price and order quantity while experiencing customer returns and price dependent stochastic demand. We propose an agreement between the manufacturer and the retailer that includes two buyback prices, one for unsold inventory and a second for customer returns, and show that this type of easy-to-implement agreement can achieve perfect supply chain coordination and be a win-win for both manufacturer and retailer when a complementary profit-sharing agreement is included.     

供需不确定条件下考虑双边努力的供应链组合契约设计

本文研究供需同时不确定条件下考虑双边努力的供应链契约设计问题,在一个供应商和一个零售商组成的二级供应链系统中,供应商的努力影响产量的不确定性,零售商的努力影响市场需求的不确定性。首先,利用Stackerberg主从博弈模型计算了分散决策时零售商、供应商的最优期望利润,并将计算结果与集中决策时供应链整体的最优期望利润进行对比。由于双重边际效应的存在,分散决策时供应链的最优期望利润小于集中决策时供应链的最优期望利润。基于此,本文设计了回购和成本分担组合契约来协调该供应链,计算了回购价格和成本分担系数的表达式,得到了回购和成本分担契约下供应商和零售商的最优期望利润。结果表明,在特定条件下,该组合契约不仅可以协调供应链,还可以实现供应链利润的任意分配。最后,通过数值计算,分析了供需双方的决策变量和期望利润随契约参数的变化情况。     

Return Policy Model of Supply Chain Management for Single-Period Products

A return policy is one of the major issues in supply chain management, particularly for managing single-period products that are characterized with short sales period and little salvage value. The value of the buyback price is important to ensure a stable supply chain. The role of the risk attitude of the retailer and supplier is also known as an essential factor to the decision in determining a return policy. In this paper, we present the result of our investigation into this problem. The aim of our work is to develop a model to determine optimal return policies for single-period products based on uncertain market demands and in the presence of risk preferences. The impact of the wholesale price and selling price is also investigated to determine the optimal order quantities and optimal buyback price for different types of risk attitudes.     

产出不确定性的三级供应链风险分担组合契约设计

研究了供应商和制造商产出随机且零售商面临随机需求的三级供应链协调模型,决策变量为供应商的原材料投入量、制造商的订购量和零售商的订购量。分析了集中决策下供应链协调基准的唯一性,论证了回购契约及其与产出风险分担组合契约的协调性。研究结果表明,对于产出和需求不确定的三级供应链,仅考虑在制造商和零售商之间采用回购契约可改善供应链绩效,但并不能实现供应链的全局最优化,而从风险分担的角度设计的回购和产出风险分担组合契约不仅能有效的协调供应链,且在一定条件下,各供应链成员的利润还能获得帕累托改进。通过算例验证了以上结论的正确性,并分析了回购价格对订购量、原材料投入量和利润的影响,以及各供应链成员对契约的偏好。     

Buyback contracts with price-dependent demands: Effects of demand uncertainty

We explore buyback contracts in a supplier–retailer supply chain where the retailer faces a price-dependent downward-sloping demand curve subject to uncertainty. Differentiated from the existing literature, this work focuses on analytically examining how the uncertainty level embedded in market demand affects the applicability of buyback contracts in supply chain management. To this end, we seek to characterize the buyback model in terms of only the demand uncertainty level (DUL). With this new research perspective, we have obtained some interesting new findings for buyback. For example, we find that (1) even though the supply chain’s efficiency will change over the DUL with a wholesale price-only contract, it will be maintained constantly at that of the corresponding deterministic demand setting with buyback, regardless of the DUL; (2) in the practice of buyback, the buyback issuer should adjust only the buyback price in reaction to different DULs while leave the wholesale price unchanged as that in the corresponding deterministic demand setting; (3) only in the demand setting with an intermediate level of the uncertainty (which is identified quantitatively in Theorem 5), buyback provision is beneficial simultaneously for the supplier, the retailer, and the supply chain system, while this is not the case in the other demand settings. This work reveals that DUL can be a critical factor affecting the applicability of supply chain contracts.     

Coordinating order quantity decisions in the supply chain contract under random demand

In this paper, we are concerned with the coordinating quantity decision problem in a supply chain contract. The supply chain contract is composed of one manufacturer and one retailer to meet the random demand of a single product with a short lifecycle. Our analysis show that the retailer expects to obtain higher profit under proper ordering policies, which can also maximize the expected profit of the supply chain. The manufacturer may induce the retailer to order the coordinated quantity by adjusting the unit return price. As a result, the supply chain is expected to achieve the optimal expected profit.     

公平关切下需求依赖于价格的供应链运作策略研究

在传统的供应链研究中引入零售商公平关切态度,以核心供应商的利润作为公平关切参考点建立零售商的期望效用函数模型,研究三种市场需求模式下零售商公平关切行为倾向对供应链运作的影响。研究结果表明:公平关切零售商的最优定价随公平关切因子和批发价的增加而增大,最优订货随公平关切因子和批发价的增加而减少;传统的批发价契约不能对供应链进行协调,满足一定条件下回购契约可以对公平关切的供应链进行协调;最后,通过数值例子对理论结果进行验证。得到的研究结论可为现实物流企业提供一定的理论参考。     

三层供应链上需求信息不对称下Newsboy型协作问题

本文主要研究单产品在单周期内由供应商、制造商、零售商组成的三层供应链上的协作订购问题,即在随机需求下供应商、制造商、零售商以利润最大化为目的的最优协作订购问题。在需求信息不对称下,零售商充分了解需求信息。在协作订购时面临四种策略,给出了在这四种策略下的四种利润模型及零售商在这四种策略下的最优订购量并比较它们的大小,最后通过需求服从正态分布的实例验证了供应商一制造商一零售商在采用数量折扣和返回措施三者完全合作时供应链上的利润最大。     

碳税政策下时变需求依赖库存与价格的供应链协调模型

研究由一个供应商和一个零售组成的二级供应链系统在碳税政策下的协调问题.对于市场需求率为时变函数且依赖于当前库存水平和销售价格的情形,建立分散式和集中式供应链决策模型.比较两种模型得出供应商和零售商合作能够提高供应链的整体利润但是也会产生更多的碳排放.分别利用批发价格契约和两部收费契约协调分散式决策模型得出供应链协调的条件.最后通过数值算例验证理论结果并分析碳税单价对供应链在两部收费契约下实现协调的影响.     

Random yield supply chain with a yield dependent secondary market

This paper considers a simple supply chain with one supplier and one retailer where the supplier’s production is subject to random yield and the retailer faces uncertain demand. There exists a secondary market for acquiring or disposing products by the supplier. We study both the centralized and decentralized systems. In the decentralized system, a no risk sharing contract and a risk sharing minimum commitment contract are analyzed. The supply chain with the risk sharing contract is further analyzed with a constant secondary market price and a yield dependent secondary market price. We present both the supplier’s and the retailer’s optimal strategies and provide insights for managers when making decisions under random yield risk and demand uncertainty. We find that the secondary market generally has a positive impact on supply chain performance and the actual effect of random yield risk on the supply chain performance depends on cost parameters and supply chain contract settings. Under certain conditions, reducing yield randomness may weaken the double marginalization effect and improve the chain performance. From the numerical study, we also show that there exists an optimal commitment level for the supply chain.     

存货质押融资模式下的供应链协调

针对供应商、零售商和银行组成的供应链金融系统,研究了存货质押融资模式下的供应链协调。零售商作为中小企业,资金有限,需要向银行申请贷款,然而零售商信用较低难以获得融资。供应商作为供应链的核心企业,采用含有回购价格和回购比例的回购契约为零售商提供担保,使得零售商融资得以实现。分析了不确定需求下供应链金融系统,供应链以及零售商的最优决策,给出了融资情况下供应链协调的条件,指出了在供应链协调情况下批发价格和回购策略对供应链收益分配的影响,说明了回购的作用:一方面使零售商易于获得银行融资,另一方面使供应链协调得以实现,指出了质押率、贷款利率和零售商自有资金等参数对最优决策的影响。数值算例验证了理论分析结果。     

Ordering and pricing decisions in a two-echelon supply chain with asymmetric demand information

This article examines coordinated decisions in a decentralized supply chain that consists of one supplier and one retailer, and faces random demand of a single product with a short life cycle. We consider a setting where the retailer has accurate demand information while the supplier does not. Such a problem with asymmetric demand information can be viewed as an extension of the newsboy problem in which both the supplier and the retailer possess the same demand information. Combining the mechanism of sharing demand information and that of quantity discount and return policy enables us to develop three coordinated models in contrast with the basic and uncoordinated model. We are able to show the ordinal relationship among the retailer’s optimal order quantities in these four models under a general form of random demand, and compare the supply chain profits and conduct sensitivity analysis analytically in four models under uniform random demand. We also provide numerical results under normal random demand that bear a resemblance to those under uniform random demand.     

需求不确定下制造商为核心的三级供应链协调

在需求不确定的情境下,研究由单一供应商、制造商和销售商组成的三级供应链系统的协调问题。设计了制造商—销售商采用期权契约,制造商—供应商采用回购契约的联合契约协调机制,分析了集中控制、分散控制和协调机制下供应链系统的最优决策。最后,通过数值算例说明了机制设计的有效性,并对分析结果进行验证。研究结果表明,通过制定合理的契约参数可以使供应链各成员的期望利润相比分散决策时有帕累托改进,从而实现三级供应链系统的协调。     

Consignment contracting: Who should control inventory in the supply chain?

Consignment is a popular form of business arrangement where supplier retains ownership of the inventory and gets paid from the retailer based on actual units sold. The popularity of such an arrangement has come with some continued debates on who should control the supply chain inventory, the supplier or retailer. This paper aims at shedding light on these debated issues. We consider a single period supply chain model where a supplier contracts with a retailer. Market demand for the product is price-sensitive and uncertain. The supplier decides his consignment price charged to the retailer for each unit sold, and the retailer then chooses her retail price for selling the product. We study and compare two different consignment arrangements: The first allows the retailer to choose the supply chain inventory, together with her retail price, and is labeled as a Retailer Managed Consignment Inventory (RMCI) program; and the second calls for the supplier to decide the inventory, together with his consignment price, and is labeled as a Vendor Managed Consignment Inventory (VMCI) program. We show that with an RMCI program, the supply chain loses at least 26.4% of its first-best (expected) profit, while with VMCI, it loses just or no more than 26.4% of the first-best profit. Second, we demonstrate that both programs lead to an equal split of the corresponding channel profit between the supplier and the retailer. These results indicate that it is beneficial both to the supplier and to the retailer when delegating the inventory decision to the supplier rather than to the retailer in the channel.     

Analysis of the impact of price-sensitivity factors on the returns policy in coordinating supply chain

This paper analyzes the impact of price-sensitivity factors on characteristics of returns policy contracts in a single-period product supply chain. The contract considers stochastic and price-dependent demand. We present an analytical model and then use numerical methods with the Stackelberg game to identify the contract properties. We numerically show that a returns policy indeed improves supply chain performance. However, the benefits earned from the returns policy, under price-sensitive and variable demand, are different for different supply chain partners. First, when price-sensitivity is high, profit of the manufacturer decreases with increase in demand variability. Second, when price-sensitivity is sufficiently high and demand variability increases, the manufacturer has to surrender part of the profits to the retailer, in order to continue sales. However, even after surrendering part of the profits to the retailer, the manufacturer still earns profits that are higher than those available in a wholesale price contract. Last, from the perspective of division of channel profits, the retailer is always worse off in case of returns policies than in a wholesale price contract. Therefore, to apply this form of incentive in practice, managements should consider the impact of price-sensitivity on the returns policy and its performance.     

公平偏好下基于回购契约的供应链协调模型

在报童模型的基础上,以一个供应商和一个零售商组成的两级供应链为研究背景,把公平关切引入到回购契约的研究中,并根据Nash讨价还价博弈思想建立公平偏好框架,通过建立效用函数模型,研究了公平关切对回购契约的影响．研究发现,公平关切不会影响回购契约的协调性,公平关切程度也不会影响零售商的最优订购量,进而可以得出,即使供应商在不知道零售商对公平偏好的程度下,依然可以通过制定合适的批发价格和回购价格来做出使自己效用最大化的最优决策．另外,通过灵敏度分析发现,在公平关切时,零售商的最优订购量会随着产品单位生产成本的增加而增加．